Transcript

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>> A U.S. judge blocking the Obama administration's guidelines that public schools allow transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice, granting a nationwide injunction sought by Texas and 12 other states. Writers John Herskovitz is in Texas covering the story.>> The Department of Justice had said that these guidelines were just that, guidelines, and they did not have the effect of awe.

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>> They said that if a student wants to sue based on discrimination they can do that without regard to the guidelines. The judge said that the guidelines are effectively lakehall and hadn't been properly administered. He also agreed with arguments presented by Texas and 12 other states that these guidelines put billions of dollars of federal funding for education at risk for schools who don't comply.

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>> Issued by the Justice Department in May, the guidelines say states should allow transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond to their gender identities and not force them to use those that match their sex at birth>> With the directive came the implicit threat that if not followed, Federal Funding for schools could dry up.

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Something Hershcovitz says may still occur guidelines or not.>> According to the Obama Administration, the guidelines even if they didn't exist, they could still withhold funds if the school is found to be operating with discriminatory practices.>> So who's really the winner here? That may depend on which side you're on.

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>> For those who argued against the guidelines, they see this as a victory because they saw the guidelines as federal overreach that threatened every school district in the United States. A lot of LBGT legal groups have said that the effect of the decision really is more symbolic than practical in that under Title IX of US Law, there is an avenue for suing within the courts if the student feels that discrimination has taken place.

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>> Still, the White House will likely appeal the decision to the Fifth Circuit in Texas. If upheld, the case could then go to the Supreme Court.